The term “klout” gets thrown around the Abstrakt digs from time to time. Whether it’s during a friendly game of, “let’s see if I can throw this Nerf ball through a pane glass door” or discussing Klout scores in the Twitter world, the topic finds a way to enter our office discussions. What exactly is a Klout score, anyway? What does it really measure? How many times you tell the world what you ate for dinner? How many times you “LIKE” and/or retweet your own posts?

According to klout.com, your score is a metric of your total influence online. The higher your score is, the bigger impact you have in the social universe. But does this really mean much? Well, yes and no.

Recently, the question was posed: “Would you not hire a social media coordinator based on their Klout score?” Some feel if your score is low, it is a reflection on your lack of knowledge/influence on various social media platforms. Yes, that is somewhat true. If your score is, let’s say a 10, it’s clear you aren’t all that active in the social realm, but that doesn’t necessarily expose your shortcomings as a marketing guru.

There’s a lot more to social media marketing than status updates, “LIKES”, retweets and followers. It’s about strategy. Who is the target? What is the message? Are we conveying the message properly? Anyone can artificially inflate their Klout score. It’s quite easy, actually. Basically dedicate all your available time to posting useless information, “LIKE” and retweet your own posts though other accounts and you’ll see your score soar.

In summary, Klout scores are a nice gauge of showing ones influence in social media, but it should not be the end all be all. Anyone can tweet, it’s what you are tweeting that is truly important.

Sound off: what are your thoughts on Klout scores? Should they dictate who gets picked for a social media position?